How Jim and Tammy Faye Changed Me

But suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father commits, and though he sees them, he does not do such things. Ez 18:14

High power churchdom. A fall into disgrace. A family split apart. Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker once had an empire in the Christian world that included churches, a television network, and a theme park. Then, it all came apart at the seams as one man’s sins were brought to light.

I hadn’t thought much about all of this in years. I remember a bit about the great awe of the Bakker family. I remember a little about the scandals and fall. For some reason, what I remember most is a t-shirt that had fake eyelashes on it and a smear of blue and black below them with a lipstick print in the middle that said, "I just ran into Tammy Faye." I guess I don’t remember much because it really no longer matters to me, except to find ways to distance myself from this brand of Christianity.

But suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father commits, and though he sees them, he does not do such things. Ez 18:14

High power churchdom. A fall into disgrace. A family split apart. Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker once had an empire in the Christian world that included churches, a television network, and a theme park. Then, it all came apart at the seams as one man’s sins were brought to light.

I hadn’t thought much about all of this in years. I remember a bit about the great awe of the Bakker family. I remember a little about the scandals and fall. For some reason, what I remember most is a t-shirt that had fake eyelashes on it and a smear of blue and black below them with a lipstick print in the middle that said, "I just ran into Tammy Faye." I guess I don’t remember much because it really no longer matters to me, except to find ways to distance myself from this brand of Christianity.

But then, as I watched a DVD called One Punk Under God, which is the story of Jim Bakker’s son, Jay Bakker. The series shows one man’s struggle to understand God, Christian community, and grace following the fall of his father.

The effect that this had on America is discussed early on as radio personality Rachel Maddow interviews Jay: "Your family, your parents, and the collapse of the PTL empire symbolizes the hypocrisy and corruption in large scale American religion.When people fall from a place where they have been moralizing publicly, it is a harder, and for the American people, more satisfying fall than it’s just a normal person who may be getting a raw deal. It made a big impact on me."

Jay counters though with not just the influence it had on America, but also on his own life. "I think it had a big impact on America. I think people were really disillusioned with the whole church. And I understand why people are satisfied by that type of thing. I look at Christian television today and it makes me sick. So I definitely understand that, but it’s also hard when it’s your mom and dad," responded Jay.

Through his struggles, Jay Bakker has become a preacher himself, of a less than traditional type of church. In preparing his sermon for that week, Jay said, "At this point, I don’t want to live in my parent’s shadow anymore. When I put together my sermons, it all comes from my life experiences growing up. But a lot of it comes from my week’s experience. Kinda let people know where I’ve been and what I've been through. I just don’t want to live a double life. I just want to be real."

And in that actual sermon, he said:

"I’m not saying my father wasn’t responsible for any of it. But you know he made his mistakes. But the point is how do we handle it when people make mistakes? We can’t follow human beings, and I think that’s the problem people made with my parents. I thought it was about Jesus and what Jesus did, not about what we do. And I thought we’re gonna make mistakes but thank God we have Jesus. And what was making me think about this was I tried to call my dad last night. I really didn’t talk to my dad for a year, a couple of years maybe. My expectation was that we’d best friends, and we would preach together, and we’d change the world and everything would be ok. Well, you know what the problem with expectations are, is they really usually let you down. But I’ve started to realize that I was laying up my treasures with men and with people’s approval of me, rather than depending on the Father. And this is one of the hardest lessons I’ve ever learned in my life. And that’s where I am right now. It’s learning to do the Father’s will and trust the Father and not rely on what people think or say. So that’s where I’ve been, and that’s where I’m at."

A good reminder to me that as I may make fun of or cringe at the effects that some have had on Christianity, there are those whose lives were personally impacted. I so often want to distance myself from those in disgrace, rather than praying and handing out the grace. We're all still a part of one body, if I've read my Bible right. I need to be awake to more than my own world and my reputation, because it's not mine anyway–it's His.